E3 predictions 2012

E3 2011 predictions

Okay, E3 is now less than a month away and as such, I thought that it was about time that I start making my predictions... So here goes

(I must state again that I have both Nintendo and Sony products, not Microsoft, as such, for this year I haven’t made predictions for Microsoft.)

Nintendo

For Wii:
- Next to nothing will be announced for Wii, this will be ignored. An announcement of Pandora’s Tower for the US is a possibility, together with a few other small games, but other than this, not much.
- A further price cut for the existing Wii

For 3DS:
- Footage for New Super Mario Bros 2 will be shown.
- There will be an announcement of a new Zelda game coming out, which will either be a brand new release, or a 3DS version of either A Link to the Past or Majora’s Mask.
- Footage will be shown of Monster Hunter 4.
- There will be no redesign for the 3DS (at present, this will be next year).
- Further footage will be shown of other games due for release, such as Luigi’s Mansion 2, Animal Crossing, Paper Mario and Fire Emblem.
- The 3DS will be integrated into a new online service (akin to Xbox Live and PSN) with the launch of the WiiU.
- DLC is announced for both Mario Kart 7 and also Mario 3D Land, with indications that there will also be DLC for other Nintendo games (such as Fire Emblem and Animal Crossing).
- A number of new games developed for the e-shop will be shown.
- The new game in the Brain Age/Brain Training series will be shown.

For Wii U:
- Wii U will be confirmed as the final name for the system (although the logo for Wii U will be changed.
- The console and the controller design will be changed from that shown at E3 2011. The controller will look sleeker and the console will look different enough to the Wii to distance itself from the prior generation.
- A worldwide release date is given, but not a price.
- I’m hoping that they announce that the console with be backwards compatible with both the Wii and gamecube and convert games to 720p or 1080p (which would be fantastic).
- It will be announced that the console will allow you to transfer all virtual console and Wiiware from the Wii.
- There will be a proper online service akin to Xbox Live and PSN and this will also be tied in with the 3DS friend code. Speaking of which, there will be none of the stupid friend code per game nonsense of the Wii. It is also a possibility that the online service may be connected to, or integrate with either Steam or EA Origin.
- Some form if trophies/achievement system is incorporated with the Wii U.
- A trailer will be shown for Pikmin 3 for the Wii U and this will also be playable (and look great in HD).
- Retro Studio’s will announce their next game for Wii U as a new Metroid Prime game.
- A trailer will be shown for the Wii U version of Smash Bros, although this will be very early on in development.
- Eternal Darkness 2 is announced.
- Footage is shown of Dragon Quest X running on the Wii U.
- Footage of a New Super Mario game (2D) is shown.
- Either a brand new F-Zero, or a brand new Starfox (more likely) game is shown.
- A brand new IP from Miyamoto is shown.
- There will be a great deal of support from some third parties, most notably the likes of EA, Ubisoft and Capcom.
- A fair few games will be shown to use near field communication to convert figures into in-game icons. One of these games will be Smash Bros.
- Footage will be shown of Aliens: Colonial Marines

Sony

For PS3:
- Extended service for Playstation Plus or a revised tiered service for customers will be announced.
- A further trailer for The Last of Us will be shown, with in game footage.
- There will be a further price drop announcement.
- Agent (Rockstar) will finally be shown (come on – surely).
- Nothing will be shown in relation to the Playstation 4/Orbis, other than perhaps a mention that they are currently working on developing next generation hardware.
- A new trailer will be shown for The Last Guardian, and a release date will be given as Holiday 2012 (it has to come out eventually!)
- New Footage will be shown of Little Big Planet Karting, God of Ware: Ascention and Playstation All Stars (together with an updated roster).
- A greater selection of PS2 downloadable classics will be announced, together with the fact that they can also be played on the Vita.
- There will be much less mention of Playstation Move then there has been the last 2 years.

For Vita:
- It will be announced that Resident Evil: Revelations is being ported to the Vita.
- A new Dissidia: Final Fantasy game will be announced.
- A Monster Hunter game will be announced or Sony will show a game developed internally which closely resembles Monster Hunter.
- New games in the Locoroco and Patapon series will be announced.
- New footage and a release date will be given for Little Big Planet on the Vita.
- A greater selection of PS2 downloadable classics will be announced, together with the fact that they can also be played on the Vita.
- An update will be announced for the Vita, allowing the emulation of PSOne game and PS2 games.
- Either a price drop, or a new console package (including a game or games) will be announced.
- A remake of Final Fantasy VII is announced for the Vita and will be shown together with the previously announced Final Fantasy X.

Multi platform

- A new trailer and launch date will be announced for GTA V (probably just ahead of E3).
- A new (fantastic) trailer is shown for Bioshock: Infinite
- A new trailer will be shown for Borderlands 2 (which will continue to look incredible).
- A new trailer and demo is shown for Tomb Raider, showing much more of the game than that shown previously.
- Mirror Edge 2 is announced (because it HAS to happen)
- Final Fantasy XV will be announced, which will be a single player game and also will have an old-school Final Fantasy look to it.
- The new multiplatform game from Bungie (a FPS) is announced.
- A new Burnout game will be announced by EA, and this will be akin to the Burnout’s of old rather than Paradise (i.e. similar to Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit).
- There is news (and a tentative release date) for the next Half Life game (despite what Valve have said). They also state that they have scrapped episode 3 and instead will be incorporating this into Half Life 3 (fingers crossed).